The Influence Of L1 Thinking On L2 Writing

This thesis mainly explores the influence of L1 (Chinese) on L2 (English) writing in the EFL composing process. An experiment is carried out in this study in order to collect data. The subjects under this study are 50 junior English majors in Tianjin Normal University. This study aims to testify the following two hypotheses: 1.The influence of L1 (Chinese) thinking on L2 (English) writing is positive in general. Its main influence lies in the text length and text quality. 2. For lower proficiency composers, their L2 composing processes are virtually processes of mental translation.The thesis consists of 5 chapters. Chapter one is devoted to the explanation of the topic, and the significance of the present study. Chapter Two reviews the previous L2 writing processes studies and presents the theoretical background of the study, which includes the theories of language transfer and theories on L2 writing. Chapter Three is the research design including hypothesis, experiment, instrument, subjects and the process. Chapter Four is the major part in this thesis. The collected data and the subjects' compositions are discussed and analyzed to testify the hypothesis. Chapter Five includes conclusion and suggestion and limitations in this study.